Trevor Dryden, Solar Energy Fraud, Missouri 2016

State: Missouri
Category: White Collar Crime
Source: <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/former-st-joseph-business-owner-sentenced-solar-companys-14-million-fraud-scheme" style="color:#cc0000;" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">DOJ Press Release ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Â Ã¢â‚¬â€

A former St. Joseph business owner has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for his role in a $1.4 million solar energy fraud scheme.

Trevor Dryden, 36, of Texas but formerly of St. Joseph, was sentenced in federal court by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips on [insert date]. Dryden was also ordered to pay $1,396,956 in restitution to the victims of his fraud scheme.

The court ordered Dryden to pay $464,080 payable to KCP&L for the state rebate fraud and $932,876 payable to the government for the federal rebate fraud (with the amount owed to the government jointly and severally with Richard Shonemann).

Dryden pleaded guilty on February 2, 2016, to one count of participating in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain state and federal solar rebates and to four counts of making false statements related to state and federal solar rebate programs.

Dryden was an owner of US Solar in St. Joseph, which sold and installed solar-powered panel systems to businesses and home owners in northwest Missouri. In a separate but related case, US Solar co-owner Richard Schonemann, 39, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty on September 2, 2015, to his role in the conspiracy and to one count of making false statements.

The investigation revealed that Dryden was involved in three separate fraud schemes, including a fraud related to KCP&L state rebates, a fraud related to the federal rebate program, and a fraud related to annual updates for the federal program.

As a result of this fraud scheme, US Solar was paid a total of $464,080 more in rebates than the company was entitled to receive.

Trevor Dryden, a Texas resident but formerly of St. Joseph, was sentenced to two years in federal prison without parole for his role in a $1.4 million solar energy fraud scheme in Missouri in 2016.

Related Federal Cases